TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT Trustees look at altering parking ban on 1 street

Last week, trustees OK'd a one-side parking restriction on Afton Avenue. By DENISE DICK VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER BOARDMAN -- Trustees implemented a parking restriction on one side of a township street nearly 17 years ago, but may switch it to the opposite side in the interest of consistency. Parking on Argyle Avenue was restricted to the south side of the street in 1988 after residents, who had initially advocated an all-out ban on on-street parking, changed their minds. On Argyle, the south side is where the fire hydrants are. At a meeting earlier this month, trustees voted to limit parking on nine township streets to the side without fire hydrants. When the hydrant issue was brought to their attention, trustees placed Argyle on the list of streets to be considered at a future meeting, likely in September. Quotable "We'll probably have to reverse that to be consistent throughout the township," said Trustee Thomas Costello. "I think Argyle is a totally separate entity." On streets with a one-side parking restriction, parking should be prohibited on the side with fire hydrants, he said. Trustee Kathy Miller also said the Argyle restriction would likely have to be rescinded if consistency is maintained. Miller, who voted against the parking restrictions approved earlier this month, wonders if there are other streets with limitations on parking similar to Argyle. Costello said the parking ban on Afton Avenue may also need to be re-examined by trustees. Afton was one of the streets where trustees approved a one-side parking ban last week. The ban, which takes effect Aug. 6, was to prohibit parking on the side of the street with fire hydrants. But a resident informed him that Afton includes a bend and says that a portion of the road has fire hydrants on one side of the street and another section has the hydrants on the other.